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(Late Morning-Early Afternoon)
 
"Marialla"
 
    Mari fought back the tears.  She didn't want to  cry in front of
D'Altar.  She couldn't believe Jason could be so spiteful.  Did he really
think that anything was going on between her and D'Altar?  Well maybe it
could have looked that way.  Obviously he had no trust in her and knew
very little about what she really was like.  She trusted him with her
life.  Why couldn't he feel the same way about her?
 
    "Are you alright?"  D'Altar asked.
 
    She tried to smile, but it was rather weak.  "I'm fine.  Now where
were we.  I'm still hungry, aren't you?"
 
    "Yes I am."  she said smiling back at the Jr. Queen, trying not to
let her know he could easily see she was trying to hide her feelings.  "I
was chopping green peppers."  He picked up the knife and began to chop
again.
 
    "Do you like mushrooms?  I have some very nice ones.  They're fresh. 
I like mushrooms in my omlets.  Would you?"
 
    "Mushroom?"  I haven't seen any in the market since I've arrived
here.  Where did you get these?"  He asked.
 
    "Well I know where they grow. "  she smiled at the man.  "I get them
for Realee on occassion and of course keep myself in good supply of
them.  If you can keep a secret I'll show you where they grow after we
finish eating."
 
    "I'd love to know where they grow, Mari.  But I have something I need
to take
care of this afternoon.  Maybe we can meet before training and you can
show me then.  If you're  sure you want to share that secret with me." 
he grinned at the girl.
 
    "I'm sure I'd like to share it with you." she said seriously, "One
chef to another."  she grinned.  "The morning would be good.  Maybe my
trainer won't be so hard on me if I've warmed up with a walk first."
 
    He laughed,  "Good thought and I like the attitude, but don't count
on it."
 
    "I was afraid you were going to say that."  she said as she threw the
vegetable into the egg mixture and poured it into a hot skillet.
 
    The meal was cooked quickly and she dished the omlet onto two plates
and set the plates across from each other.
 
    Mari talked freely during the meal but didn't really touch much of
her food.  She was getting rather thin and with the added exercise
D'Altar knew she was going to have to have a bigger food intake. 
 
    "Mari, I thought you said you were hungry?"  D'Altar said.  "You've
hardly touched your food."
 
    "I've eatten a lot."  she replied. 
 
    "If two tablespoons is a lot I guess you have.  But with the added
exercise you do need to eat."
 
    "Well I promise I'll take some fruit with me to the office and munch
on that while I work.  But really I'm full."
 
    She pushed herself away from the table.  She wanted to go thru the
moves she had been shown that morning, but wasn't sure about most of
them.  She didn't want to do it and mess it up while D'Altar was there.
 
    It was as if he could read her mind.  "Would you like to go through
the moves we did this morning just to refresh your memory."  he asked,
seeing the eagarness in her face. 
   
    "Could we?"  she said, thrying not to sound too relieved?
 
    The two went through the moves again and then D'Altar bid her a good
afternoon and left.  She washed the few dishes up and headed to the
office to finish some paper work for the upcoming meetings.  Jayleigh had
told her that they were done and that Mari had done a good job, but she
had to go over things again.  She didn't want to have missed anything
important.  She had to prove to herself that Reggie had made the right
choice in picking her as her rider.
 
    She taken an apple with her, and as she promised D'Altar, she peeled,
sliced and munched on the slices while she read over the papers.  She was
going to have to go out searching for some more apples.  For some reason
she was hungry for apple pie.  She knew she wouldn't be able to eat
much.  But it sounded very good to her at that moment.
 
Respectfully submitted,
Marialla